There is a need for safe, effective antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agents for use in oral care compositions. Magnolia extract is known to contain compounds having antibacterial and/or anti-inflammatory properties, and such compounds have been the focus of considerable interest for use in oral care compositions. The use of such compounds in oral care compositions is described, for example, in WO2001/085116, WO 2011/106492 and WO 2011/106493, the contents of which application are incorporated herein by reference. Methods of synthesizing magnolol are disclosed, e,g, in WO 2011/106003. Synthetic non-natural analogs of various components of magnolia extract are also known to have antibacterial activity, but the compounds are in some cases expensive to synthesize.
Isomagnolol (3,3′-diallyl-biphenyl-2,2′-diol) and tetrahydro-isomagnolol, (3,3′-dipropyl-biphenyl-2,2′-diol), are broad spectrum antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agents with potential applications in oral care and personal care products. Existing synthetic methods involve costly reagents and poor yields. There is a need for simple, high yield synthetic procedures to make such compounds.